Saving Sylvaner

W. Blake Gray
Features
4 min read
Wine lovers, let's help save a grape. It's not quite on its last legs, but it's misunderstood, and our obsession with ratings and blind tasting is partly to blame. The grape is Sylvaner. A century ago it was the most-planted grape in both Alsace and Germany. It's one of the

Cloudburst: a moment of reflection, a moment of quality

David Rogers
Features
7 min read
On a visit to Margaret River in Western Australia, with its popular and well-established, high-volume wineries, we find one winemaker — an American — who is taking a different turn by producing low-output wines of unique garagiste appeal. Though he is already widely acclaimed outside Australia, given his philosophy and approach, local acceptance may

To peat or not to peat?

Roger Morris
Features
5 min read
Whisky doesn’t have to smell and taste smoky to be Scotch. In fact, some very fine blends and single malts have little or no traces of the smoldering peat that for centuries has imparted its distinct smokiness during the malting process. All the same, I believe all Scotch master distillers

Trending: the English Sparkling Thing

Becky Sue Epstein
Feature Stories
4 min read
English sparkling wine is now a thing. Unless you’re a sparkling wine nut like me, you might not have noticed. In fact it’s more than just a thing: English sparkling wine has been beating French Champagne in blind tastings every year, lately. Why? And why now? At some point in